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Ohio's ugly Senate race has national repercussions

The world will be watching Ohio this week, waiting
largely to see which presidential candidate’s weeks of time and millions
of dollars spent wooing Buckeye State voters will pay off. But slightly down the ballot is another race nearly as
important: for one of Ohio’s U.S. Senate seats.

This is an all-out race and class war. If you’re
voting for the re-election of President Barack Obama then you’re either
black; an unthreatened/progressive white; or a minority who’s been
offended, discounted or demonized by Gov. Mitt Romney, Republicans
and/or the Tea Party.

Romney makes case for election at Jet Machine in Bond Hill

There are only a few more weeks of political commercials, ads, promises and accusations flooding the TV and radio before the Nov.
6 presidential election. While many Americans are tired of political
campaigning, Ohio — the most important swing state in the United States —
has been showing a great response toward the campaign as it nears its
end.
On Thursday, 4,000 people lined up outside of Jet Machine
in Bond Hill to hear Republican candidate Mitt Romney speak at 11 a.m.
After flying in to Lunken Airport on Wednesday night,
Romney had breakfast at First Watch in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday
morning before proceeding to the rally in Bond Hill.
His visit in Cincinnati was the first of a three-stop bus
tour in Ohio — along with Worthington and Defiance, Ohio later that
afternoon.
At the Jet Machine warehouse, Romney criticized Barack Obama's campaign, foreign policies and plans for America's future.
"The Obama campaign is slipping because he keeps talking
about smaller and smaller things when America has such big problems,"
Romney said.
Romney cheered on small businesses and promised that his businesses experience will help turn the economy around.
In a response to the Cincinnati rally, the Obama campaign
explained that Romney's visit was just another attempt to try and
convince Ohio workers that he is on their side and will stand up to
China, when in fact it's the opposite.
"As a corporate buyout specialist, Romney invested in
companies that pioneered the practice of shipping jobs to places like
China, shutting down American plants and firing workers — all while he
walked away with a profit," Jessica Kershaw, Obama for America — Ohio press secretary, explained.
"These jobs are likely to come at the expense of American
workers in cities like Cincinnati, and that’s why the people of Ohio
will not be supporting Mitt Romney this November.”
Romney ended the rally encouraging the Buckeye state to go to the polls and vote early.
"We need to make sure Ohio is able to send a message loud
and clear: We want real change. We want big change," Romney encouraged.
In an attempt to secure Ohio, President Obama is due in
Cincinnati on Halloween. With just two weeks remaining before election
day, a new Ohio poll from TIME.com says that Obama is winning 49 percent of Ohio, compared with Romney's 44 percent.

Outcry, national attention spurred removal of voter fraud displays

A Cincinnati outdoor advertising company announced Tuesday
that it will take down controversial billboards that opponents claim
are aimed at intimidating voters.
Norton Outdoor Advertising had been contracted to put up
about 30 billboards that read “Voter Fraud is a Felony!” The billboards
also listed the maximum penalty for voter fraud — up to 3 and a half years and a
$10,000 fine.
Opponents of the billboards claim they were strategically
placed in predominantly low-income and black neighborhoods in Cincinnati
as a means to discourage those largely Democratic voters from going to
the polls.
The billboards were funded by an anonymous “private family foundation.”
In a statement posted online, Norton Executive Vice
President Mike Norton said the displays would be taken down as soon as
possible. He wrote that the
foundation and Norton agreed after hearing criticism that the sentiment
surrounding the displays was contrary to their intended purpose.
The family foundation didn’t intend to make a political
statement, but rather make the public aware of voting regulations, he
wrote.
“We look forward to helping to heal the divisiveness that has been an unfortunate result of this election year,” Norton wrote.
Norton had previously told CityBeat that the billboards were not targeted but distributed randomly throughout the city.
Several Cincinnati officials wrote to the company requesting the billboards be taken down.
ClearChannel Outdoor Advertising announced on Monday that it was removing similar billboards in Cleveland and Columbus.
The billboards throughout Ohio had garnered national criticism and media attention.
A rival outdoor advertising company is putting up 10 new billboards to rebut the voter fraud ones.
The new red, white and blue billboards will read “Hey Cincinnati, voting is a right not a crime!”
Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld said in an
emailed news release that he reached out to Lamar Advertising
Company to ask if they would donate the billboards throughout
Cincinnati.
“We should be encouraging folks to participate in our
democratic process, not trying to scare them,” Sittenfeld wrote. “I
salute Lamar’s generosity and their support in encouraging citizens to
raise their voice and not be scared away.”

If this presidential campaign hasn’t been sufficiently enervating, here’s more dispiriting news. Gallup reports that “Americans’ distrust in the media hit a new high
this year, with 60 percent saying they have little or no trust in the
mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly.”

THURSDAY OCT. 11: The Reds today became the first team in National League history to blow a
2-0 lead in a five-game Division Series. This latest painful postseason
exit for a Cincinnati sports team caused more chafing than others
because of how well the Reds played during the regular season, and for
the first time in like 20 years local sports fans thought their team had
a legitimate shot at winning a title.